Shoe rack



' July 26, 1938. w, BARNETT 2,124,645

SHOE RAQK Filed Feb. 15, 1956 Patented July 26, 1938 PATENT OFFICE SHOERACK Walter Barnett, Leicester, England, assignor to United ShoeMachinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J.,' a corporation of New JerseyApplication February 15, 1936, Serial No. 64,083 In Great Britain March20, 1935 3 Claims.

This invention relates to racks such as are used for supporting shoesbetween operations performed upon the shoes during their manufacture.

In the use of shoe racks in carrying shoes from one part of a factory toanother considerable difficulty has heretofore been experienced inpreventing injury to shoes and particularly to those the uppers of whichare constructed of light or delicate leathers or fabrics. Thisdifficulty is due to the fact that the shoes may become displaced fromthe supporting members of the rack or may be subjected to jostling asthe result of which the shoes come in contact with each other or withportions of the rack in such a way as to scratch or otherwise mar theuppers.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved shoe rack which is especially constructed andarranged 20 to carry shoes in such manner that the likelihood of injurythereto will be reduced to a minimum.

To this end and as illustrated, the invention provides a shoe rack inwhich the shoe-supporting portions thereof are composed of yieldingmaterial and in which there is means securely to hold the shoes inposition to prevent them from coming in contact with each other.Preferably, and as shown, the rack is provided with a shoesupportingmember comprising a shelf formed of sponge rubber having elongatedopenings extending therethrough and the walls of which are adaptedclosely to engage and to support the body portions of shoes carriedbottoms up upon the shelf.

The construction above outlined is advantageous in that the shelfitself, being constructed of yielding material, will not offer suchresistance to shoes as to mar them when they are placed in the rack orremoved therefrom and, since the walls of the elongated openings areadapted closely to engage the shoes, the shoes will be firmly held uponthe shelf with the result that adjacent shoes will not touch each other.

These and other features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawin Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a portion of ashoe rack constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment'of myinvention and showing a shelf with shoes in position thereon; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken along line II-II of Fig. 1.

The shoe rack shown in the drawing comprises a frame composed of fourvertical angle irons l0 having cross braces l2 upon which rests a shelfl4, it being understood that a plurality of such shelves may be mountedin the frame if desired.

The shelf I4 comprises a slab l6 of yieldable material, such as spongerubber, which is mounted upon two rods I8 extending longitudinally ofthe rack and resting upon the end braces l2, the shelf being providedwith a plurality of shoe receiving openings 20. Preferably each of theopenings 20 is formed in the shape of an oval which is wider at the rearof the shelf than at the front in order to correspond to the shape of ashoe placed in an opening bottom up with the heel end of the shoe towardthe rear of the rack. Preferably the openings are arranged in pairs withthe spaces between the openings of each pair and between successivepairs of openings such that adjacent shoes will not engage each otherwhen in position in the openings. The walls of the openings, beingyieldable, will readily conform closely to the contours of shoes of awide range of sizes and shapes.

In order to protect the surface of the sponge rubber against wear, andto protect delicate uppers from discoloration, the shelf is providedwith a covering 22 conveniently of textile material such as swansdown oris sprayed. with a coating of suitable material. In this connection itis to be noted that the covering 22 extends over the body portion of thematerial I6, covers the walls of the openings 20 and also covers theexposed edge portions of the rods l8.

In the use of the rack, shoes such as indicated at 24 are placed inposition upon the rack by inserting them bottoms up, heel portions tothe rear, in the openings 20, the material 16 of the shelf yieldingsufliciently to permit the walls of the openings firmly to grip theshoes, thus to hold them securely in position without. however, havingany tendency to mar the shoes.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe rack comprising a support formed of relatively soft resilientmaterial of appreciable thickness and having a plurality of elongatedopenings extending therethrough each for the reception of a shoe, thewalls defining said openings being formed by the thickness of the mate-vrial of said support thereby to engage and support the shoes over asubstantial area, and said walls being yieldable to closely conform tothe contours of shoes of different sizes and shapes.

2. A shoe rack comprising a support formed from relatively softresilient material of appreciable thickness and having a plurality ofelongated openings extending therethrough each for the reception of ashoe; a soft flexible covering enclosing said material and covering theside walls defining said openings, said side Walls being formed bythethickness of said material and covering thereby to engage the shoesover a substantial area and readily to conform to the contours of shoesof different sizes and shapes.

